Brazil embattled president survives vote on bribery charge
BRASILIA, Brazil — Brazil’s embattled president survived a key congressional vote that could have suspended him over a bribery charge, mustering enough support Wednesday night to stay in office and avoid being tried by the country’s highest court.
President Michel Temer needed the support of just one-third of the 513 members of the lower Chamber of Deputies, or 171 members. Hours after the voting began, he had received the votes of more than that number of legislators. In the end, 263 deputies voted for the president and 227 voted against him. The remaining were abstentions and absences.
While Temer was clearly victorious, he won’t likely have much time to celebrate. Attorney General Rodrigo Janot, who levelled the bribery charge against Temer, is expected to charge him with obstruction of justice by the end of the month. That would provoke a second vote, forcing his allies to once again decide whether to risk their own political futures by sticking with the deeply unpopular leader. All 513 seats in the chamber are up for election next year.
The bribery allegation, which stunned even Brazilians inured to graft cases, was the latest in a bevy of scandals that has rocked the administration and created deep uncertainty and angst in Latin America’s largest nation.